Ghanaians should expect an improvement in the availability of food with a corresponding reduction in prices by the end of September, Mr Emmanuel Aggrey-Fynn, Director of Statistics, Research and Information of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), said on Monday.

Mr Aggrey-Fynn told the GNA in an interview in Accra that the food situation should be normal by that time, while prices of most produce would reduce to at least half of their current levels.

"A field assessment indicates that, indeed, prices of some produce have already gone down," he said. "A bag of maize in the bush, for instance, now sells at 90,000 cedis from 150,000 cedis."

A report of the food and agriculture situation for the second quarter says rainfall was generally adequate in all regions, while the availability of inputs was satisfactory.

However, some regions recorded weeks of drought in May, which led to the scorching of crops, especially maize, planted early. Mr Aggrey-Fynn said current levels of food prices, which were recently the subject of debate in Parliament, are extremely high. Ghanaians spend about 51 per cent of their income on food.

"It should be noted that by this time of the year, known as the lean season (April to June), food prices tend to rise and reach a peak around June. However, this year's food prices in the season have been exceptionally high," he said.The price increases for cassava and plantain from the same period last year have been 321.4 per cent and 266.7 per cent respectively. Other commodities also recorded varying price increases ranging between 42.5 per cent and 154.5 percent. A food analysis report from MOFA indicates that a 100-kilogram bag of maize, which sold at 101,251 cedis in last year's lean season, cost 181,657 cedis this season, recording an increase of 79.4 per cent.

The price of local rice went up by 53.7 per cent, while that of yam and tomatoes went up by 154.5 per cent and 122.4 per cent respectively.

Similarly, the prices of agricultural inputs escalated, with that of a hoe going up by 71.5 per cent and cutlass by 133.8 per cent.

Mr Aggrey-Fynn blamed the situation on high inflation, frequent fuel price increases and the excessive exports of produce to neighbouring countries.

"The cedi depreciated by about 100 per cent against the dollar between the last lean season and this year's," he said. Mr Aggrey-Fynn said the exchange rate of the cedi significantly impacts on food prices as many agricultural inputs are imported. "Besides, inflation compels farmers to increase their profit margins."

At the end of April last year, the average buying and selling rates for a dollar, according to the Ghana Association of Bankers, were 4,341.18 cedis and 4,504.55 cedis respectively.

For the same period this year, the rates were 7,037.45 and 7,242.00 respectively.

The weather conditions in the West Africa sub-region were unfavourable for exports to neighbouring countries last year.

This caused those in the arid zone to depend on those in the forest areas for some commodities.

However, he said, exports of produce should not be encouraged during the lean season since they deepen shortfalls on the local front."We must adopt some non-tariff measures to discourage the practice until we achieve food security." Mr Aggrey-Fynn said to improve on the food security situation the nation needs a buffer stock, adding that the government had tasked a committee with that responsibility.

In addition, he said, post-harvest losses must be reduced by improving the road network in major food growing areas, encouraging on-farm preservation of produce and processing.

About 20 per cent of Ghana's 20 million metric tonnes of food produced are lost through poor preservation practices, distribution and marketing practices. "In the Afram Plains area, where about one million metric tonnes of food is produced, the road network is extremely bad. Therefore, about 40 per cent of the food is lost through spoilage."

Ghana annually imports about 350 million dollars of food, mainly rice, sugar, wheat, fish and meat.